The Woodruff Foundation was identified Monday as the source of a $200 million grant to Grady Memorial Hospital.

The new nonprofit hospital board released a letter at the beginning of its second meeting saying Woodruff trustees have approved the grant to the hospital.

The $200 million grant was a central issue in months of negotiations to transfer management of the hospital from the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority to the nonprofit Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation.

The donor had remained "anonymous" since last year when the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce first recommended the management transfer and held out the carrot of the huge donation. But speculation had long focused on Woodruff.

The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Atlanta's largest philanthropic donor, was established by the legendary head of Coca-Cola. It has donated generously to health care institutions, but relatively little to Grady, until now.

A first installment on the gift should arrive when the transfer to the non-profit board is complete, about May 1.

After months of negotiations, the Fulton DeKalb Hospital Authority agreed late last year to cede management of the health system to the nonprofit corporation. The transfer requires federal and state approvals.

Grady has fallen deeper into debt over the last decade due to rising health care costs, dwindling government aid, a lack of paying customers and years of neglect. It ended last year with a budget deficit of $55 million.